I will be starting my first brew at the end of this month and I am all about making life easy on me. I have a list of the equipment that I have picked up so far and am wondering if there is any piece that you think is missing for a beginner or something that make my life just a little bit easier.

A couple small things:
• a solid carboy bung. This is useful for cleaning, sanitizing, and shaking the wort in the carboy to aerate it.
• a carboy brush. You can usually get away soaking a carboy to clean it after a ferment, but the brush helps to knock off the tough stuff.
• a carboy dryer, a blue plastic stand that holds a carboy upside-down for draining, can be helpful.
• PBW is a very good cleaner for carboys and bottles. You can find other cleaners that will get the job done. but PBW is probably the best. Oxyclean is very popular, but isn't tested for food safety, B-Brite is a similar chemical that is designed for brewing.